"and second lined through the downtown business district. In Orlando, the Universal Studios Florida theme park hosts an annual Mardi Gras celebration. This event features concerts by top musical acts, a Mardi Gras parade, and more. The event takes place over multiple weekends from February to April at the park, and is included with the regular daily admission to the park. in Tampa, Florida the Gasparilla Pirate Festival is an annual event started in 1904, that was inspired by Mardi Gras and carnival. The festival hosts three parades during Gasparilla season that feature community and local Krewe organizations. There is"
"of Saint Bernard can only speak English. Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in English) in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well known throughout the world. It has colonial French roots. The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany (January 6). It is a season of parades, balls (some of them masquerade balls), and king cake parties. It has traditionally been part of the winter social season; at one time ""coming out"" parties for young women at débutante balls were timed for this season."
"February each year. Carnival celebrations end on Mardi Gras, which is French for ""Fat Tuesday"", also known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is the Tuesday before the Roman Catholic holiday known as Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, a somber period of fasting and penance that precedes Easter for Catholics. The first Mardi Gras celebrations in Europe were a carnivalesque opportunity for people to indulge themselves, celebrate, and even subvert authority in a permissible way, as part of the party. Mardi Gras enabled people to enjoy the pleasures of life before the beginning of the"
"Rio Carnival The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: ""Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro"") is a festival held every year before Lent and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1723. The typical Rio carnival parade is filled with revelers, floats, and adornments from numerous samba schools which are located in Rio (more than 200 approximately, divided into five leagues/divisions). A samba school is composed of a collaboration of local neighbours that want to attend the carnival together, with some kind of regional,"
"fall anywhere from early February to early March and lasts almost a week. Because of the absence of Valentine's Day and due to the celebrations of the Carnivals, Brazil was recommended by ""U.S. News & World Report"" as a tourist destination during February for Western singles who want to get away from the holiday. Colombia celebrates ""Día del amor y la amistad"" on the third Saturday in September instead. ""Amigo Secreto"" is also popular there. In the United States, about 190 million Valentine's Day cards are sent each year, not including the hundreds of millions of cards school children exchange."
"seen in public parades, but rather hold invitation-only events for their secret members, with private balls beginning in November, each year. The Mobile Mardi Gras season starts in November, with exclusive parties held by some secret mystic societies, then New Year's Eve balls. It has become closely entwined with the social debutante season for certain families. Other mystic societies begin their events at Twelfth Night (January 6), with parades, balls (some of them masquerade balls), and king cake parties. During the last two weeks before Mardi Gras, at least one major parade takes place each day in the city. The"
"Brazilian Carnival The Carnival of Brazil (, ) is an annual Brazilian festival held between the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term ""carnival"", from ""carnelevare"", ""to remove (literally, ""raise"") meat."" Rhythm, participation, and costumes vary from one region of Brazil to another. In the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Vitória, huge organized parades are led by samba schools."
"dating back to Roman times. Its festivities in August are also well known due to the main event that occurs every year on the last Friday of August, known as la ""batalla de flores"" (the battle of the flowers), during which large floats entirely covered with flowers and petals are paraded along the central streets. In Laredo (and many other cities in Spain) it is tradition for a group of men to parade a giant sardine through town at the end of carnival. At the end of this ritual, called ""Entierro de la Sardina"" (""burial of the sardine""), the sardine"
"Haiti also has smaller carnival celebrations during the year that are separate from the main carnival. These include Rara, a series of processions taking place during the Catholic Lent season, that has bands and parades like the larger main carnival, and also an annual ""Kanaval de Fleur"", that takes place on July 7. Port-au-Prince's annual carnival is one of the largest Mardi Gras carnivals in the Caribbean and North America. The celebrations are funded by the government, businesses and wealthy Haitian families. Haiti's version of carnival season always starts in January, known as ""Pre-Kanaval"", and the main carnival begins in"
"midnight before Ash Wednesday. In earlier times, parades were held on New Year's Day. Other cities famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro; Barranquilla, Colombia; George Town, Cayman Islands; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; and Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Carnival is an important celebration in Anglican and Catholic European nations. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the week before Ash Wednesday is called ""Shrovetide"", ending on Shrove Tuesday. It has its popular celebratory aspects, as well. Pancakes are a traditional food. Pancakes and related fried breads or pastries made with sugar, fat, and eggs"
"event held in the city of Ptuj, Slovenia. The event is conducted on the Saturday prior to Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras celebrations are spreading to other regions, such as the Mississippi Valley region of St. Louis, Missouri; Orlando, Florida in Universal Studios and in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. The Carnival in Uruguay lasts more than 40 days, generally beginning towards the end of January and running through mid March. Celebrations in Montevideo are the largest. The festival is performed in the European parade style with elements from Bantu and Angolan Benguela cultures imported with slaves in colonial times."
"Carnaval de Ponce The Carnaval de Ponce (English: Ponce Carnival), officially Carnaval Ponceño, is an annual celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration lasts one week and it ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. Thus, it is generally held in February and sometimes in March. It is one of the oldest carnivals of the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1858. Some authorities, such as the Smithsonian Institution, believe the Ponce Carnaval can be traced to as far back as 250 years ago. The Carnaval coincides with the Mardi Gras of New Orleans, the Carnival of Venice, and Rio"
"in Rio. ""Bandas"" are samba musical bands, also called ""street carnival bands"", usually formed within a single neighborhood or musical background. The Carnival industry chain amassed in 2012 almost US$1 billion in revenues. Recife is marked by the parade of the largest carnival block in the world, the Galo da Madrugada. This parade happens on the first Saturday of Carnival (Saturday of Zé Pereira), passes through the center of the city of Recife and has, as symbol, a giant cock that is positioned in the Duarte Coelho Bridge. In this block, there is a great variety of musical rhythms, but"
"blocos. Block parades start in January, and may last until the Sunday after Carnival. Carnaval Blocos are found throughout Rio de Janeiro. One of the largest and oldest blocos is the Cordão do Bola Preta, based in downtown Rio. Other large groups include Banda de Ipanema and Monobloco. In Recife, the carnival block Galo da Madrugada was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest carnival parade in the world. In its 2013 parade, the crowd following the bloco was larger than 2,500,000 people). Besides Galo da Madrugada, thousands of others carnival blocks with sizes ranging from"
"Silent Drums, on the Pátio do Terço, where Maracatus honor slaves that died in prisons. Festa Junina was introduced to Northeastern Brazil by the Portuguese, for whom Saint John's day (also celebrated as Midsummer Day in several European countries), on 24 June, is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Differently, of course, from what happens on the European Midsummer Day, the festivities in Brazil do not take place during the summer solstice, but during the tropical winter solstice. The festivities traditionally begin after the 12 June, on the eve of Saint Anthony's day, and last"
"on the final night of Carnaval, into the wee hours of Quarta Cinza (Ash Wednesday), a very different flavor of street parade is provided by Quilombo (the word given to slave refugee colonies) with authentic African costuming. For others, Carnaval is a time of clubbing in costume in more exclusive locales in the Zona Sul. The film ""Black Orpheus"" is set in the context of Carnaval in Rio. In Rio de Janeiro, a globally unique New Year's Eve celebration involves the whole city population. Local inhabitants and visitors join in flocking to the ocean to celebrate the night of the"
"excess before Lent begins. Some of the most famous are the Carnival of Barranquilla, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Carnival of Venice, Cologne Carnival, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Rio de Janeiro carnival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The day immediately preceding Lent is variously called Mardi Gras (""Fat Tuesday""), Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday. Sometimes, it is the peak of the pre-Lenten festival, while sometimes it is largely occupied with preparations for Lent. The observances vary from culture to culture, and even from town to town. Originally, in Lebanon and Syria, the last Thursday"
"Galo da Madrugada The Galo da Madrugada (in Portuguese: Rooster/Cock of Early Hours) is a carnival parade that happens every carnival Saturday, to the left of the São José district in downtown Recife, the state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil. It is named in ""The Guinness Book of World Records"" as the biggest carnival parade in the world, considering the number of participants. In 2013 that number was more than 2,500,000 people. The ""Galo"" was conceived in 1978, at Padre Floriano Street, nº43, São José district by Enéias Freire. The main rhythm is the ""frevo"", but several other rhythms are also"
"Galo da Madrugada The Galo da Madrugada (in Portuguese: Rooster/Cock of Early Hours) is a carnival parade that happens every carnival Saturday, to the left of the São José district in downtown Recife, the state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil. It is named in ""The Guinness Book of World Records"" as the biggest carnival parade in the world, considering the number of participants. In 2013 that number was more than 2,500,000 people. The ""Galo"" was conceived in 1978, at Padre Floriano Street, nº43, São José district by Enéias Freire. The main rhythm is the ""frevo"", but several other rhythms are also"
"having the duty to woo the revelry, along with the King Momo. Unlike some cities, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Queens of Carnival do not see a certain school of samba. In competitions, princesses are usually placed as second and third, and are correspondingly 1st and 2nd Princess. Some of them after the reign become queens or battery bridesmaids. Rio Carnival The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: ""Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro"") is a festival held every year before Lent and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets."
"massive parades that take place in large ""sambadromes"". The Rio Carnival is where two million people celebrate in the city. The city of Salvador holds a very large carnival celebration where millions of people celebrate the party in the streets of the city with a very big diversity of musical styles together. Cayman Mardi Gras hosts a popular Monday Food Festival prior to the Fat Tuesday Festivities. Ash Wednesday being a holiday has a daytime party in George Town which coincides with the annual Agriculture Fair which is attended by thousands of residents. ""Carnaval de Barranquilla"" is Colombia's Mardi Gras"
"Janeiro carnival, sending out the irresistible beats and rhythms making the crowd explode in a colourful dance revolution fantasy fest!"" The samba that is found in Rio is Battucanada, referring to the dance and music being based on percussion instruments. It ""is born of a rhythmic necessity that it allows you to sing, to dance, and to parade at the same time."" This is why the batucada style is found in most all of Rio’s street carnivals. Street parades, blocos, and bandas take place throughout the city of Rio during Carnival, the most famous and largest carnival celebration of the"
"is the Brazilian Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, while the Venetians celebrate carnival with a masquerade. The use of the term ""carnival"" in other contexts derives from here. In Spain, the Carnival Tuesday is named ""día de la tortilla"" (""omelette day""): an omelette made with some sausage or pork fat is eaten. On the Portuguese island of Madeira, they eat ""malasadas"" on Terça-feira Gorda (Fat Tuesday in English) which is also the last day of the Carnival of Madeira. Malasadas were cooked in order to use up all the lard and sugar in the house, in preparation for Lent. This"
"Carnatal The Carnatal () is the largest ""micareta"", or off-season Carnival, in Brazil. It is held annually in December in the city of Natal in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Like other micaretas, Carnatal is different from the samba dance school parades popular in Rio de Janeiro. The central feature of a ""micareta"" is a large truck or lorry called a ""trio elétrico"". The trio elétrico is wired with loudspeakers and has a band performing on the trailer. The truck drives slowly along the streets. The crowd follows the trio elétrico singing, dancing, and jumping to the sound"
"Summer Carnival The Summer Carnaval (Dutch: Zomercarnaval) is an annual event in the Belgian city of Kortrijk and the Dutch cities Rotterdam, Bentelo and Arnhem that mimics the Carnaval of Latin America and the Cape Verde Islands. The traditional pre-Lent Carnival falls in winter in the cool, northern European climate. This climate does not lend itself to celebrating carnival in the Latin American and Cape Verde manner. The Summer Carnival offers people an opportunity to celebrate Carnival in such a manner. The Arnhem Rio on the Rhine attracted more than 150.000 visitors, while the Rotterdam event attracts nearly a million"
"Mardi Gras in New Orleans The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in Southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western Christian tradition). Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the Mardi Gras season. In the final week, many events occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities, including parades and balls (some of them"
"(Fat Tuesday). It's the main day of Carnival along with the Thursday before, called Giovedí Grasso (Fat Thursday), which ratifies the start of the celebrations. The most famous Carnivals in Italy are in Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea. Ivrea has the characteristic ""Battle of Oranges"" that finds its roots in medieval times. The Italian version of the festival is spelled Carnevale. The Netherlands also has a festival similar to Mardi Gras. It's called Carnaval and is similar to the Venice Carnival. The origin of the word Carnaval is ""carnem levare"" which means ""to take away meat"" in Latin, or ""carne vale"","
"Mardi Gras in the United States Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, however a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Carnival celebrations. Most trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi river about 60 miles (96.6 kilometers) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on the 3rd of March 1699 and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le"
"competitions and there were numerous concerns about potential infection resulting from human sewage. Rio has a tropical savanna climate (""Aw"") that closely borders a tropical monsoon climate (""Am"") according to the Köppen climate classification, and is often characterized by long periods of heavy rain between December and March. The city experiences hot, humid summers, and warm, wet winters. In inland areas of the city, temperatures above are common during the summer, though rarely for long periods, while maximum temperatures above can occur on a monthly basis. Along the coast, the breeze, blowing onshore and offshore, moderates the temperature. Because of"
"night, 27 August 2005, was the last parade held in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. The annual Krewe of OAK Mid-Summer Mardi Gras parade usually takes place on the last weekend of August. But in 2017 the foot parade was held on the second to last weekend of August in order to better coincide with the upcoming solar eclipse. Krewe of OAK The Krewe of OAK is a small neighborhood New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe and parade held in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. The parade starts and ends on Oak Street, presumably the origin of the name,"
"series as a rookie level organization for samba schools. The Carnival began on Friday and ends on Ash Wednesday, but the Winners' Parade happens on the Saturday after the carnival ends. The winning school and runners' up of the Special Group, as well as the A Series champion, all march past one final time on this night. In 1984, the government decided to give Rio Carnival its new home in the Sambadrome. Today, some of the most famous events of Rio Carnival are ticketed events. There are different types of Sambadrome tickets that are available for purchase. Grandstand tickets are"
"Carnival of Madeira The Carnival of Madeira (Carnaval in Portuguese) is an annual festival held forty days before Easter, that ends on Shrove Tuesday (called Fat Tuesday in Madeira - Terça-feira Gorda in Portuguese) the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent). On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term ""carnival,"" from ""carnelevare"", ""to remove (literally, ""raise"") meat."" One of the first major festivals of the year in Madeira, apart from the Dia dos Reis, the Madeira carnival is known as one of the best in Europe. Traditionally,"
"the world´s largest mine open to the public. The municipality contains about 10% of the Serra do Gandarela National Park, created in 2014. The street carnaval in Ouro Preto attracts thousands of people every year. Traditional band music is played across town, and many people dress up in costumes during the holiday. There are two main types of street parade in town: the one with samba schools and the one with ""blocos"". Carnaval usually takes place in February or March, depending on the timing of Lent. It starts on the Saturday immediately before Lent and ends the day before Ash"